Category: September

Sept 8: “ain’t over ‘til it’s over”

SEPTEMBER 8, 1914 | BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – Yogi Berra hadn’t even been born yet to utter those famous words. But the notion was epitomized by the stunning turnaround of the Boston Braves (today’s Altanta Braves) of 1914. On July 18th of that year the Braves were in last place, 11 games out. By September 8th, the Braves found themselves in first place for good – from worst to first.

It took the Braves only 37 days to go from worst to first on August 22nd. They went 24-5 over that span to tie the New York Giants at 59-48. The Braves had leapfrogged six teams.

The Braves, Giants and St. Louis Cardinals changed places a few times for the next couple of weeks. By September 8th the Braves had passed all seven (there were only 8 teams in each league back then, no divisions), and were in sole possession of first place. Not only did the Braves pass the entire National League in a matter of weeks, they went on to win the pennant by 10.5 games.

The Boston Braves went on to sweep the heavily favored Philadelphia A’s four straight in the 1914 World Series.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Koppett’s Concise History of Major League Baseball, 2004, pg 122, by Leonard Koppett
1914 National League pennant race
World Series winners

SEP 7: Mark Whiten explosion

SEPTEMBER 7, 1993 | CINCINNATI, OHIO • Mark Whiten of the St. Louis Cardinals had one of the most explosive offensive games in major league history on this date in baseball history (1993). He hit four home runs and drove in 12.

Whiten’s 4 home runs tied a major league record held by eleven others. His 12 RBI in one game also tied a record which was set by another St. Louis Cardinal in 1924, Jim Bottomley. The most RBI in the American League was 11 by Tony Lazzeri of the New York Yankees in 1936.

Here are a few other RBI records as compiled by Baseball-Almanac:

Most in a season
National League……Hack Wilson     191 (1930)
American League….Lou Gehrig       184 (1931)

Most by a rookie
National League……Albert Pujols     130 (2001)
American League….Ted Williams     145 (1939)

Most by a switch hitter
National League……Lance Berkman 136 (2006)
American League….Mark Teixeira    144 (2005)

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Runs Batted In
Sept. 7, 1993 box score/play-by-play

SEP 5: Ripken Ties Gehrig

SEPTEMBER 5, 1995 | BALTIMORE, MARYLAND • Drama followed Cal Ripken the summer of ’95. On this date that year he tied Lou Gehrig‘s 2,130 consecutive games played streak. He received a 5 minute standing ovation from his hometown Camden Yards crowd when the game became official in the bottom of the 5th inning. If that wasn’t dramatic enough, Ripken homered the following inning.

The 35-year old shortstop, who’s been playing every single game on the Baltimore Orioles schedule for 14 years, would go on to play almost three more full seasons before ending the streak September 20, 1998 having played in 2,632 consecutive games. The only active player (as of this writing) among the top 15 in consecutive games played is Miguel Tejada, another former Oriole. Tejada was not quite half-way there when his streak ended at 1,152 games in a row. He only had about seven more years to go without missing a game.

Think Ripken’s streak will ever be broken?

Contributing sources:
Consecutive games played 
September 5, 1995 box score/play-by-play  http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL199509050.shtml
New York Times, Cal Ripken  

Sept 4: One up on “Moonlight”

SEPTEMBER 4, 1933 | DETROIT, MICHIGAN • Twenty-one year old Merritt Lovett came to bat for the Chicago White Sox on this date in 1933. He did not reach base. It would be “Mem” Lovett’s only major league at bat.

Lovett was at least one up on Archibald “Moonlight” Graham. Graham was the character Burt Lancaster played in the 1989 movie Field of Dreams. Graham played one inning for the New York Giants on the last day of the 1904 season, but never came to bat. Rather than be sent down to the minors again, Graham quit professional baseball and went to medical school. He spent the rest of his life delivering babies and generally attending to the medical needs of the residents of Chisholm, Minnesota. 

In Field of Dreams, Graham, played by Frank Whaley as a young man, was granted one at bat against major leaguers who appeared on a baseball diamond an Iowa farmer carved out of his corn field.

Most of the film, Field of Dreams was fiction, based on the book Shoeless Joe by Ray Kinsella, but Moonlight Graham was a real life person. So was Merritt Lovett. He followed a similar path as Graham. He decided to do something to help others. Lovett, a native of Oak Park, Illinois and a University of Chicago graduate, soon quit professional baseball and turned his attention to youngsters in his hometown. He spent a number of years running the Oak Park recreation department.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Wednesday Journal, Oak Park, IL, October 27, 2004
Chicago Tribune, June 10, 2006, Mike Downey

Sept 3: Dodgers look west

SEPTEMBER 3, 1957 | JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY – The Brooklyn Dodgers lost in extra innings to the Philadelphia Phillies on this date in 1957. Three Phillie pitchers beat Don Drysdale, who pitched all 12 innings for the Dodgers. As it turns out, Brooklyn did not just lose a game, it was losing a team.

The September 3rd contest was played in Jersey City, New Jersey, the last of fourteen games Dodger owner Walter O’Malley scheduled at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City in 1956 and 1957.

While only 10,190 fans showed up on this day, the Dodgers averaged more than 21,000 fans in Jersey City. They averaged only 15,000 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. But the attendance at neither Jersey City nor Brooklyn was very encouraging to Dodgers’ owner Walter O’Malley who had been thinking of moving the team.

The Jersey City experiment appeared to strenghten O’Malley‘s resolve to move the team much farther west. After the 1957 season he announced the Dodgers were moving to Los Angeles. 

Walter O’Malley is a villain to many for moving the beloved Dodgers out of Brooklyn. But he tried for years to obtain land in Brooklyn and elsewhere in the New York City area to build a ballpark to replace run-down Ebbets Field. O’Malley ran into political roadblocks at every turn. He found welcoming arms in Southern California, and in 1958 the team became the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Contributing sources:
Sept 3, 1957 box score
1957 Dodgers 
“The Brooklyn Dodgers in Jersey City,” by John Burbridge, SABR Society for American Baseball Research